A Historical Deception Endures

As an individual deeply invested in Israel’s story, a student of history, and someone who has personally experienced life in the Middle East, I find myself perpetually astonished, though no longer surprised, by the sheer confidence with which historical falsehoods are disseminated. My extensive engagement with texts such as the Torah, the Bible, and even the Quran, coupled with my teenage years exploring museums across Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and Israel, and my dedicated study of archaeological discoveries, ancient manuscripts, historical cartography, and the remnants of forgotten civilizations, has yielded a consistent and profound absence. In all these sources, not one single sovereign nation of “Palestine” belonging to Arabs has ever been identified. The history of Judaism predates Islam by millennia, with the Jewish people establishing kingdoms, cities, and a vibrant religious presence in the land long before any Arab arrival from Arabia.

Yet, despite this overwhelming corpus of verifiable history, a pervasive narrative has taken root globally: the assertion that Israel is “occupying Palestine.” This fabricated claim has, for many, supplanted historical fact.

Misinformation’s Tangible Impact 

A recent communication serves as a stark illustration of how misinformation solidifies into unshakeable conviction. Readers of my blogs at www.timetostandupforisrael.com frequently share their perspectives, and a message from Australia vividly demonstrates this phenomenon. The individual stated: “In Australia all our WW1 memorials list Palestine as a country Australians fought and died in.”

This is a clear instance of a widespread misconception. My straightforward response was: “It was not a country. It was the Ottoman Empire. The Romans renamed Judea to ‘Palestina’ after crushing the Jewish revolt, a deliberate political move to........

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